


The Ground We're On Keeps Shifting

by obscureenthusiast



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/F, Hoshi is really really sad cause her gf is far away, i have no idea how vulcan mind skype works and at this point i'm afraid to ask, it's fun, there's a lot of dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 12:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13681770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obscureenthusiast/pseuds/obscureenthusiast
Summary: With T'Pol gone, back on Vulcan for a mission at the Vulcan Science Academy, Hoshi has been feeling a little unbalanced. With their mental link, one would think the two would see each other often, but distance and timing has gotten in the way and Hoshi gets more and more frustrated by the day.Luckily, that changes.





	The Ground We're On Keeps Shifting

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day, please take these happy lesbians to celebrate!! :D 
> 
> (I'm going full cliche fanfic and the title is from the song "Tides" by the wonderful band "Hey Marseilles")

“The ground we’re on keeps shifting

...but our steps still stay in time.”

***

Hoshi was sitting cross-legged on Trip’s bunk, laughing at the way he and Malcolm stumbled through dance steps. 

Travis was trying to teach them how to dance, and had turned on a handful of songs to serve as their musical accompaniment. Hoshi was mostly just there to enjoy the show and maybe help Travis demonstrate some of the steps when the other two simply couldn’t understand the dance.

And it didn’t hurt that the company helped her to feel less lonely.

It wasn’t that she needed to be with T’Pol every waking hour, or that she was totally reliant on her girlfriend to entertain her, it was just…

T’Pol had been on Vulcan for almost seven weeks. And she wouldn’t be _back_ from that mission for another three months. 

And Hoshi missed her so much it sometimes felt like there was a big slice cut right out of the space where T’Pol normally was. Like the science officer’s station was colder. Like Hoshi was off-balance in some way that couldn’t be corrected no matter what she did. 

Even with her connection to T’Pol it was difficult. Even with the way she could almost feel T’Pol’s heart beating if she concentrated hard enough. The way she sometimes got waves of affection and warmth out of nowhere but _knew_ that it came from T’Pol.

For the first week or two they had tried to maintain a schedule, where Hoshi would sit down and close her eyes and clear her mind and suddenly there was T’Pol. And it was like standing in front of her again and hearing her voice and seeing her smile (that private, loving smile that was reserved for Hoshi) and it was almost perfect.

Except that the further away they got from Vulcan, and the more the time changed between Vulcan and Enterprise, the harder it was to organize those moments. Between sleeping, daily tasks, and far too many other factors, Hoshi hadn’t seen T’Pol in what felt like ages.

Malcolm did his fair share of cheering her up when she got too down in the dumps to function (with a fair amount of light hearted teasing when she needed it). Trip could always be counted on to keep up a good, distracting amount of conversation. Travis was _incredibly_ understanding about missing people who were far away, since he only saw his family or the friends he’d grown up with once in a long, long while. When all else failed, she could go visit Porthos, who was always excited to see her, maybe because she almost always brought some cheese with her…

But none of that brought T’Pol back to her any faster.

And as she sat and watched Malcolm and Trip step their way carefully through the dance, their hands entwined and their eyes looking at one another (when they weren’t looking at their feet or at Travis for instructions), she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

They had each other. It was _real_ and they were both present and _actually here_.

She swallowed, looking down at her hands and taking a deep breath, trying to chase those negative thoughts away. It wasn’t right to feel jealous just because Trip and Malcolm were happy. She could miss T’Pol and be happy for her friends, those two things could coexist.

Instead, she focused on the music. It was something a little slow and brassy, a bit like the big-band music from Earth’s past, with a crooning melody that sounded both hopeful and yearning.

“Hoshi.”

She glanced up more hesitantly than she usually would have, almost convinced she’d imagined the voice.

All around her was a void of whiteness, a familiar sight, and sitting a few feet away was T’Pol, wearing a hooded robe over a simple tunic and pants. 

Hoshi grinned, her heart soaring, “Hey, you.”

T’Pol stood up slowly, removing the hooded robe and leaving it on the ground behind her before walking to where Hoshi was sitting. She tilted her head a little, “Why is there music?”

Hoshi laughed, “You can hear it?”

The Vulcan nodded, smiling barely, “I believe you were focusing on it,” she said, reaching out a hand with two fingers extended.

Hoshi reached up and pressed two fingers to T’Pol’s, her smile growing. At first she’d found the Vulcan form of familiar affection a bit strange, but after a while it had grown on her. By now, she liked it almost as much as a human kiss…

Almost.

“Travis is teaching Trip and Malcolm how to dance,” Hoshi explained.

T’Pol raised an eyebrow, “That explains your amusement earlier. It must be going… poorly.”

Hoshi laughed, standing up with a shrug, “Not ‘poorly’ so much as ‘clumsily’, though not for lack of trying on anyone’s part.”

T’Pol leaned in, not quite bringing her lips to Hoshi’s. Between them, their fingertips still touched, and T’Pol put her free hand on Hoshi’s hip and pulled her incrementally closer.

Hoshi’s eyes slipped closed and she allowed herself to breathe, standing this close, even if it was just for this moment. 

Even if it was just in her head.

“I miss you, T’Pol,” she murmured.

“I know,” T’Pol whispered, “I… I am sorry we haven’t talked.”

Hoshi blinked her eyes open for a moment, guilt pushing her to explain herself, “Of course I understand you’re doing important work on Vulcan and it’s difficult to know when both of us will be able to… be _here_. I don't blame you for that. I would never, it's just…” she faded off, because T'Pol _knew_.

It was just too much, sometimes. To be apart for this long.

T’Pol’s lips pulled into the smallest of smiles, “That doesn’t mean I don’t miss you,” she reached up to brush some hair away from Hoshi’s eyes, “I wish you could be here. I would show you everything on Vulcan.”

Hoshi leaned up and kissed T’Pol’s lips softly, smiling, “I’d like that,” she whispered, “Someday you’ll have to take me there.”

T’Pol wrapped her arms around Hoshi and pulled her in for a deeper kiss and Hoshi smiled into it, putting her hands on T’Pol’s shoulders, sliding up to tangle her fingers behind her neck.

When they seperated, Hoshi sighed happily and leaned into T’Pol, her fingertips still playing with T’Pol’s short hair. 

The music was still winding its way through the background of Hoshi’s mind, a small thread to remind her of the real world.

Almost without realizing, she and T’Pol were swaying in time with the rhythm. Then, T’Pol’s hand slid down to Hoshi’s hip and her other gathered Hoshi’s right hand and entwined their fingers, suddenly pulling her into the same dance Malcolm and Trip had been attempting to learn.

Hoshi smiled, her brow furrowing in surprise as they moved together, “I didn’t know you could dance.”

T’Pol tilted her head a little, “Travis is a very good teacher.”

Hoshi laughed, throwing her head back as she let T’Pol lead, spinning and stepping in time as if they had done this a thousand times before. 

She’d never had a dance partner that matched her so well. Of course, she supposed their mental link gave them that advantage. Not to mention, the last time Hoshi had danced she had probably been just a teenager. 

And T’Pol was strong. Stronger than an average human, which she demonstrated as her hands gently grabbed Hoshi’s hips and lifted her as if she weighed nothing.

Hoshi laughed in surprise as T’Pol put her back down, forgoing the dance for a moment just to hold her close, breathing in and out in time with one another.

“I love you,” she whispered.

T’Pol pressed a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth, smiling, “Ashayam. Half of my soul.”

Hoshi giggled a little, leaning in, “For a people who are emotionless, you Vulcans get pretty sappy, you know.”

T’Pol raised an eyebrow and gave what Hoshi could best describe as a smirk.

“We do not let emotions drive us,” she said, “that does not mean we do not have them.”

Hoshi wrinkled her nose, “You don’t let emotions drive you,” she teased, leaning close to look deep into T’Pol’s eyes, “then explain falling in love with me.”

T’Pol’s eyebrow rose further at the challenge in Hoshi's voice, “A simple matter of logic,” she said, her voice that overly-serious tone that almost certainly meant she was joking.

Hoshi giggled, nodding and biting her lip, “Uh huh, is that so?”

“Indeed.”

She grinned and opened her mouth, intending to ask T’Pol to elaborate, when something bumped her shoulder roughly, shaking her out of the quiet between-worlds space that she and T'Pol occupied and back into the loudness of reality.

“Shit!” Hoshi gasped, as she snapped back into herself.

“Sorry, Hoshi, didn't mean to surprise ya,” Trip said, smiling as he situated himself more comfortably beside her, “You were near asleep by the look of it.”

Hoshi shot to her feet, biting back a string of expletives but allowing herself an annoyed, “Damnit, Trip!”

Trip's expression changed immediately at her tone, his brows furrowing, “Whoa, whoa, Hoshi, what's up?”

She bit her lip, surprised and frustrated at the feeling of tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat that kept her from answering immediately.

Malcolm looked at her from where he stood beside Trip, his eyes wide with worry, “Hoshi?” he asked gently.

She closed her eyes, “I… I was with T’Pol in the…” she gestured vaguely into thin air, unable to form words right now.

Trip jumped to his feet immediately, his face fallen with guilt, “Oh my God, Hoshi, I had no idea, I'm so sorry, if I had known I would never of bumped ya and I-”

Hoshi shook her head, fighting down her frustration enough to speak gently, “You're fine, Trip, I know you didn't know.”

“I know but feel horrible ‘bout this!” Trip said, running a hand through his hair, “Can… can ya call her back?”

Travis stepped in, then, raising his eyebrows, “Hoshi, why don't you head to your quarters and do the… you know, the meditating stuff T'Pol showed you?”

Hoshi nodded, “Right,” she said, stepping toward the door with a deep breath, repeating again, “Right. She's probably still meditating, too,” she stopped and turned around, brows furrowing, “How long was I-”

Malcolm grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, physically pushing her toward the doors and saying, in a firm but gentle tone, “About ten or fifteen minutes. Not that it matters, because you should go see her, alright?”

Hoshi smiled a little, glancing over her shoulder at him, “Alright.”

“Good, cause you gotta let off some steam,” Trip sighed, speaking in a low voice that Hoshi wasn't sure she was meant to hear.

“And what does that mean?” Hoshi laughed turning to face Trip, who reddened slightly under her gaze.

Malcolm smirked a little, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to the door again, “It means we can all tell you haven't… properly _talked_ to T’Pol in a while.”

Hoshi snorted, mostly at the euphemistic way he said ‘talked’.

“And what does _that_ mean?” she asked, turning to look at the others with a raised eyebrow even as she pressed the button to open the door.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” Travis said flatly, grinning and clearly unabashed at what he was implying.

If Hoshi wasn't so determined to get to her quarters and see T'Pol again, she'd have stopped to give them all the aghast stare and pointed lecture they deserved, but since she didn't have time for that, she settled for giving Malcolm a dirty look as the door closed between her and him.

He merely winked at her, saying, just before the door closed completely, “Have fun, Hoshi.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but headed quickly down the corridor to her own quarters. 

They were right, though. She and T'Pol probably needed to… talk. 

Talk a _lot_.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!! You can always come scream at me about Star Trek on tumblr at softbutchtashayar! ^_^


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